Smelting process.



No. 894,1l.. PATENTES JULY El, 190.5v

' J. H. BOYD.

SMELTING PROCESS.

APPLGATION FILED PEB. 24, 1908.

PATENT FFICE.

JAMES H. BOYD, O F DENVER, COLORADO.

Specification of Letters'Patent.

Patented July 21, 1908*;

Application filed February 24, 1908. Serial No.- l'/p To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES H. BOYD, a citizen of the United States, residing at the city and county of Denver and State of Colorado, have invented a certain new and useful Smelting Brocess; and I do declare the, following to be a fullhclear, and exact description `of the invention', such as' will enable others skilled in the art to which it appervtheores elow the fusion zones in the furnace by bringing it in contact with the carbon or coke of the fuel. The carbon unites with the sulfur forming a suld of carbon which is volatile and passes upward whereby it is burned or consumed in the smelting zone and converted into sulfurous acid.

At the present time two classes of smelting is practiced. 'One is known as the leadA smelting vprocess and the other the matte smelting process. In the former, ores are reduced or changed from sulfids to oxids by roasting which adds largely to the cost of treatment, asa large portion of the ores is sulfide, as depthis gained in the mines. After roastin and being pro erly mixed they are smelte with sufficient cad-bearing ores to collect the old, silver and lead in the metallic state an the cop er in a matte in connection therewith. T' e other or matte smeltin is conducted without roasting and the gol silver, lead and copper are reduced to a matte together and require further treatment for their separation. These processes are conducted in shaft furnaces known as Water jacket furnaces.

In the first or lead smelting process there is a 'smelting zone where the ore is reduced to a lilguid state and slag and copper matte drawn o at the bottom ofthe smelting zone, the lead, gold and silver passing to a lower zone or hearth altogether. 4The fusion zone or where ores are reduced to a liquid state extends only as farasthe effective force of the blast extends, varying some as the pressure of the vblast varies, but rarely exceeds twelve inches below the twyers.

By the use of my process, all kinds of ores are smelted without roasting. If properly mixed, the sulids will reduce the oxids and all become sulfide, being thus reduced to a matteand slag in the fusion zone or space where the blast enters. This matte passes into a zone lower down where the blast has no effective force and where the matte is brought in contact with the coke which gives u its carbon to the sulfur and A becomes sulfi ,of carbon which is a volatile product and passes up and is burned or consumed in the smelting z'ione and converted into sulfurous acid which will again unite with any oxide present in theore mixture,`in the space above the smelting zone or where fusion takes lace.

Iron may be carburized in the zone where` the sulfur is removed instead of in high stacks or furnaces as is .now done.

The slag is drawn off at the bottom of the zone where the sulfur is removed, and as co per sulfid is lighter and therefore on top of t e gold, silver and lead when reduced to the metallic state, it may be drawn olf below theA different zones are illustrated by shading.

Let the numeral 5 designate the-body of the furnace which is provided with a bustle vpipe 6 from which air is supplied to the twyers 7 through conduits 8. These twyers deliver air to the central part of the fusion or smelting zone the depth and location of vwhich is indicated by thetwo` dotted horizontal lines A and B which are exteriorly located in order to better define the said zone. Below the line B and between the lines B and C, the zone for separating the sulfur from the -matte is located. At the bottom of the zone B C, is a shallow 'zone C D, where the \slag is drawn off through an opening M co1n- ,municatin'g with a discharge spout F. Be-

low the sla zone C D, is the copper'matte zone D E, t e copper matte being drawn off through an opening G leading to a spout H; while 1n the bottom of the furnace is a zone l in which the gold, silver and lead accurnu late, the same being drawn oif through an opening J leading to a spout K. All of these draw-olf openings are normally closed by plugs L. f

ren in the zone A B Where the blast is introduced through the twyers 7. In this fusion or smelting zone, the matte 1s formed being composed of the entire ore mass containing the sulfur, it being assumed that the ore isA sulfld in character. This matte passes downwardlyro'm the zone A B into the zone B C where 1t cornes in Contact with the coke ofv the fuel, the carbon of which unites with the sulfur to form suld of carbon which is volatile and passes upwardly being burned ory consumed 1n the fusion or smelting zone A B. It must be understood that the zone B. C is entirely" below the air plane or the level which is reached by the air or blast from the twyers. Hence in this zone the coke being removed from contact with the air is prevented from burning in the absence of air 'tf lsupport combustion. As soon as the carbon 1s-sep'arated/fro1n the matte, in the manner heretofore explained, the slag is drawn off from the zone C D immediately below 'the separating Zone B C, through an opening E leading to the discharge spout Below the slag zone C D., is the copper mat-te zone D E since the co per matte being heavier than the slag isvlig ter than the gold, silver and lead. The co per matte is drawn oil from the zone D E 'di G communicating with the ischarge spout F and finally the old and silver together with the lead are drawn olf from the zone rouh the opening I at the bottom of the furnace through the opening J communicating with the discharge spout K.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

The herein described sullid cre smeltingl process consistin r in the separation of the sulfur fromthe ziziused ores 1n thespace or zone of the furnace below the fusion zone,

In testimony whereof I .ailix my signature in presence of two witnesses. JAMES H. BOYD.

Witnesses A. J. OBRIEN,' DENA NnLsoN. 

